In its third week, Saw took North America by storm, screening in 2,674 theaters.
And it didn't stop there. As word of mouth spread, its influence grew, and the film started rolling out across Europe. Sure, it was too gory for some countries to allow in theaters—relegated to VHS and DVD—but for a low-budget B-movie to go global? That alone screamed success.
This week, it faced off against big commercial hits like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Charlie's Angels. But Saw didn't back down, pulling in $24.42 million over the week. Over the weekend alone, it raked in $13.2 million—landing fourth place behind Grinch ($17.62 million), Rugrats in Paris ($22.72 million), and Charlie's Angels ($13.36 million). It even beat Sony's new release The 6th Day. As for Miramax's Bounce, despite heavy promotion, it wasn't even in the same league.
By now, Saw's North American box office had topped $30 million—only $3 million shy of Girl, Interrupted, which had been out for over three months.
Next weekend, though, it'd face a bigger test: Disney's suspense blockbuster Unbreakable was about to hit theaters.
…
The original Saw, released in 2004, ran for two months and made $56 million in North America. This version? Scripted by Dunn, directed by Zack Snyder with his punchy visual style, and launched in a different era with different players—it was a whole new beast. Analysts predicted it could break $80 million in North America!
Sure, it couldn't touch last year's The Blair Witch Project, but anyone in the know understood Blair Witch rode a wave of fake hype and scare tactics—basically tricking audiences. It had no staying power. Case in point: Blair Witch 2 tanked this year.
Saw, though? It was a solid story with tons of sequel potential—way brighter prospects than Blair Witch.
Dunn had taken a couple days off to catch the Victoria's Secret show in New York, so this weekend, he was back on set, putting in overtime to make up for it.
In a bar scene, Nicole Kidman held a drink, smiling at the slightly dazed young man in front of her. "You're not much of a talker, are you?"
Russell Crowe, visibly nervous, replied, "I can't tell you anything about work, Alicia."
Nicole shook her head. "I didn't mean work."
Russell frowned, sighing. "I've realized it takes a lot of effort to get better at this social stuff. Sometimes I just blurt things out straight, but it usually backfires."
Nicole grinned, giving him a playful wink. "Try it with me."
"Alright." Russell took a deep breath. "I think you're pretty charming. You want to win me over, and I feel the same… but all these old-school rules say we've got to jump through hoops first. I'd play along before we get close, sure. But honestly? I just want to get you into bed as fast as possible!"
Nicole's eyes widened in surprise.
"Cut! That's a wrap!" Dunn called out, standing up and stretching. "The bar scenes are done—on to the next location!"
The shoot for A Beautiful Mind was nearing its end. If all went well, they'd wrap in two weeks.
The crew started packing up to move out.
Russell sidled up to Dunn, lowering his voice. "Director, can we shoot my scenes next?"
"Hm? Got something going on?"
"Yeah. My new movie, Proof of Life, comes out December 8th. The distributors want me on the promo tour."
Dunn frowned, a little annoyed, but then something clicked. "Proof of Life? The Warner flick?"
"Yeah, Warner's handling distribution."
"You know I've got ties with Warner, so I've heard some things about this one." Dunn's tone turned serious, almost cautionary. "Russell, be careful with this movie. Keep a low profile."
Russell shrugged. "I've got a clear deal with them—I have to do the early promo stuff."
"No, no, you're missing my point," Dunn said, his voice heavy. "A Beautiful Mind will wrap in two weeks. If we prioritize your scenes, you could be done in a week. What I mean is… Proof of Life—its subject matter's dicey."
This wasn't just paranoia.
In his past life, Russell Crowe's role in Proof of Life had pissed off a South American crime syndicate. They put a $13 million bounty on his head, threatening to kidnap him—no ransom, just a finger chopped off each day for ten days before killing him.
That kind of terror shook Hollywood. The FBI even stepped in, assigning agents to guard Russell for three months straight. When he won Best Actor at the Oscars, he looked exhausted, jittery, and miserable.
Dunn didn't want his presence here to trigger some butterfly effect that got Russell killed.
…
November 22nd, Wednesday. Two more big films hit the market: Disney's Unbreakable and 20th Century Fox's X-Men.
Over the past two weekdays, Saw had pulled in just $2.9 million. At that rate, barring a miracle, it wouldn't stand a chance against Unbreakable's box office pull.
But…
Could a miracle happen?
This version of Unbreakable was already tainted—Bruce Willis had landed in another scandal. Meanwhile, X-Men, another superhero flick, was hitting screens. Spider-Man had raked in over $1.25 billion worldwide. Even if X-Men hit just $250 million, it'd shake up the Christmas season!
Opening day, Unbreakable made $2.49 million—nowhere near X-Men's $8.63 million. It couldn't even keep up with older releases like Grinch or Charlie's Angels.
…
Joe Roth stood trembling in front of Michael Eisner, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace. "Unbreakable's box office isn't beating X-Men, sure, but we topped Saw, right? As for X-Men, there's no helping it—superhero movies are hot right now, riding Spider-Man's wave."
Michael Eisner pointed at Joe, fuming at his shameless spin. He was too mad to even speak.
Yeah, Saw made $1.46 million that day—less than Unbreakable. But was that really the comparison to make?
Disney had poured money and effort into a big-budget blockbuster, and on its opening day, it barely beat a three-week-old B-movie from Dunn's company by a measly $1 million—and Joe was proud of that? Talk about embarrassing!
Saw wasn't even a main project for Dunn Films—it came from a subsidiary of a subsidiary, Focus Features. A throwaway flick! And yet, it was neck-and-neck with Disney's flagship release. Where did that leave Disney's decades-long Hollywood dominance?
The main studio's pride reduced to the level of Dunn Films' grandkid company?
Humiliating!
And Joe had the nerve to crow about it!
"Get out! Get the hell out!"
Michael Eisner exploded, his rage like rolling thunder, radiating raw power.
He thought of Dunn Films' blacklist, the months of setbacks they'd suffered at Dunn's hands—all because of the guy standing in front of him: Joe Roth!
"Get out and don't ever come back!"
Eisner's roar echoed through the office.
Joe froze, his blank face registering the inevitable.
What was coming had finally arrived.
Disney's production department was about to turn upside down!